This study was conducted to investigate the value of using physical anomalies (PAs) to evaluate early prenatal injury in schizophrenia. PAs are minor abnormalities in development of the head, hands, and feet that are presumably associated with insult during the first trimester. Sixty-seven schizophrenic inpatients and 88 normal controls were evaluated for PAs. The schizophrenic patients showed significantly more anomalies than the controls. The difference remained significant even when patients were compared to controls of low socioeconomic status. Both male and female patients showed a high incidence of mouth abnormalities, and female patients showed a high incidence of abnormalities in head circumference. Patients with early age of onset (less than or equal to 18 years) had more physical anomalies than did later onset patients. This relationship was most noticeable for males. Physical anomalies were not associated with deficits on measures of vigilance, selective attention, or orientation.

A significant number of medically ill outpatients encountered difficulty in understanding or remembering correctly hypothetical but realistic medication regimens. This suggests that an older medical patient's cognitive and functional capacity to comply with medication regimens of differing complexity can be specifically assessed before the start of the regimen and probably should be assessed in patients whose compliance capacity is in question. The assessment instrument under development in this study may be helpful in detecting those who need assistance with medications, thus identifying the need for intervention before poor compliance can lead to increased morbidity, rehospitalization, and increased medical costs.

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Using a BAB design, a token system requiring cooperative interaction was used to change the reading and vocabulary performance of an 18-member class of third-grade hyperactive boys. Four different colored tokens, which could be exchanged for 15 minutes of play on electrovideo games, were earned by successful completion of two tasks that involved learning to read and to use new vocabulary words in sentences, and two tasks in which the student served as a proctor to a student who had not yet completed those tasks. The mean number of tasks completed during the intervention periods rose to over nine times the number completed during reversal. Additionally, the average completion rate for the school district's standardized weekly reading level examinations rose from four to eight fold during the token conditions. All 18 students responded to the token program by increasing their academic performance.

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